Grand Turk
United Kingdom · Europe
About
Grand Turk is an island in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory, tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies. It is the largest island in the Turks Islands (the smaller of the two archipelagos that make up the island territory) at 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi). Grand Turk contains the territory's capital, Cockburn Town, and the JAGS McCartney International Airport. The island is the administrative, historic, cultural and financial centre of the territory and has the second-largest population of the islands at approximately 4,831 people in 2012.
The name comes from a species of cactus on the island, the Turk's cap cactus (Melocactus intortus), which has a distinctive cap, reminiscent of an Ottoman fez. In addition, this interpretation of the name received a reaction in the Turkish press on the grounds that it was anachronism. Fez began to be used by the Ottoman Turks in the 19th century, and the "Turk" in the island's name dates back to very old times.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.